The Secret
by Mahichu
Summary: Rodney is definitely not your average scientist. However, he holds a dark secret...One that few know of. One that he must protect at all cost from those that would hunt him down for it. Until now that is... McKayRonon
1. The Secret

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

Just so that everyone knows this story takes place during the third season before Carson was killed. So with that said please enjoy.

* * *

The Secret...

Rodney McKay was definitely not your average brilliant scientist. Usually, he was referred to as being extremely above average, one of the most intelligent men of his time. However there was a dark side to this man that few knew about…a secret kept hidden from those who would dare to abuse it. Until now that is…

* * *

"How many times do I have to tell you Rodney? I don't want to hear about it," a brown haired man stated as he walked down the empty halls of Atlantis. A shorted brown haired man followed him, trying and failing to keep up with him.

"I just want to look. How much harm could that do?" Rodney, the shorter one said. Sheppard, the taller one, rolled his eyes and began to think about a way to get the scientist off of his back.

"Just no Rodney. I'm not interested in going to the mainland for a bat like creature that we'll probably never find even if we do go," Sheppard answered. "Besides, don't you have anything more important to do? I don't know…like finding us a new power source."

Rodney opened his mouth to speak, but Sheppard escaped through a nearby doorway. "My answer will remain the same no matter what you say," Rodney heard Sheppard add as the door closed behind him.

"Typical military response," Rodney muttered as he stomped away, silently fuming. He headed down the hall once more and made his way to the infirmary where he found his Scottish friend reading some paperwork. "You won't believe what just happened!"

"No, but I think you're about to tell me," Carson Beckett said as he looked up from his work.

"He won't allow me to go on the mainland to research an unknown species of bats. His specific words were that my attention should be directed towards something more important. Argh! That man is insufferable!" McKay ranted as he swung around his arms in annoyance.

Carson frowned and then sighed.

"Bats? Should you really be doing research on something so dangerous? What would happen if someone found out?" he stated. McKay went quiet. He stared at the ground beneath his feet.

"They won't…they can't…" he whispered.

"Just be careful Rodney."

"Hm," Rodney said as he walked out of the infirmary. He needed a break and he was going to get one. On his way to his quarters, he felt the approach a familiar presence.

"McKay!" someone yelled behind him. McKay froze. He turned around and came face to face with the Satedan that they had rescued a year and a half ago. His long unruly hair and wild eyes gave him a very dangerous look. Then there was also the fact that he was as strong as 5 men put together.

"Ronon," McKay greeted. As his eyes fell apon the Runner, Rodney felt his throat dry and an insatiable hunger began to take over. Rodney averted his face from Ronon's so that the Satedan couldn't see his expression. Sometimes this happened, but usually he was able to control it. Now just wasn't a good time because he was weak…he needed to feed soon to regain his strength…

"McKay! Did you hear me? I said that Dr. Weir wants us in the control room. She says that she has a mission for us," the Satedan answered. He turned around on his heel and walked away.

Rodney sighed tiredly. There went the idea of rest from his head. He would have to ask Carson for something to eat later on when he came back.

* * *

The moment he reached the control room Rodney knew that it was something important.

"What is it?" he asked as he looked at Weir for the answer. The brown haired woman turned to him and then began to speak.

"We've just gotten word from one of our off world teams that they found traces of a ZedPM on the planet. I'm sending Colonel Sheppard's team in for aid. I think your assistance could be needed," she explained. McKay said nothing.

"Are you sure you're alright Rodney. You look awfully pale," Teyla, the only female on Sheppard's team, stated, her voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine," Rodney answered. But truthfully he wasn't. He was painfully aware of the burning sensation in his stomach. A sensation that wouldn't go away until he feed and that could be hours from now.

"Then you'll be leaving immediately," Weir announced.

As Elizabeth spoke those words, Rodney felt a shiver crawl up his spine. For some reason he had a really bad feeling about this planet and his bad feelings were usually right.

* * *

"Open the gate! We're coming in hot!" Sheppard's voice was heard over the intercom. Elizabeth immediately ordered one of the employees to lower the shield protecting the gate. A moment later, both teams that had gone off world had returned.

"Is everyone alright?" Elizabeth asked.

"Get a medical team down here this instant. McKay's down!" Sheppard shouted as he pointed to the unconscious Rodney who was being carried by Ronon.

A few seconds later, Carson rushed onto the scene and hulled the unconscious McKay onto a stretch. The moment he was secured, they rushed the man down the hall and towards the infirmary.

Elizabeth descended the stair from the control room and approached her team members.

"What happened? What about the ZedPM?" she asked.

"It was a fake. It was meant to lure us to the planet and capture us. We ran into a couple of hostiles and they kind of gave us a hard time. McKay was hit with a weird blast and he just crumpled to the ground. He wouldn't wake up no matter what we did," Sheppard explained. Elizabeth frowned.

"Why don't we all head down to the infirmary to see what's happened to our favourite scientist," she said calmly.

* * *

Carson carefully placed his friend on an empty bed and then began his diagnostic.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Rodney?" he muttered. He went quiet when he noticed something very troubling on the scanner.

"So how's he doing doctor?" Sheppard questioned as he entered the infirmary. His eyes placed on Rodney's still form. Ronon and the others followed in silence. The Satedan also gazed at Rodney's still form with unwavering eyes.

"It's actually a lot worse then it looks. The reason why he can't wake up is because he's dreaming…well not dreaming per say… Rodney has been trapped within his memories," Carson said. He pointed to the scanner in his hand. "See the fluctuations here in his brain waves. The part of his brain that takes care of memories is on overload. The device that hit him must have been made to place the victim in a deep coma like sleep so they wouldn't resist when captured."

"I only understood a part of that," Sheppard said truthfully.

"Basically, Rodney won't wake up…not unless he does it himself, which might prove to be difficult. Worse case scenario is that he might never wake up again." Carson responded as he glanced at the scientist.

* * *

Ronon sat quietly in the mess hall, oblivious to everything around him. It was partially his fault that McKay was currently in this condition. The scientist had been talking to him as they ran and then suddenly Rodney had pushed to the ground. The next thing he knew, Rodney was on the ground beside him, unresponsive to his calls.

"How are you holding up, Ronon?" Teyla questioned as she took the empty seat beside the Satedan.

"I'm fine," he answered.

"What happened wasn't your fault, Ronon," she said, trying to console him.

"I'm not so sure about that. I could have sworn he pushed me aside purposefully and took the blow for me," he responded in a soft voice. Teyla parted her lips to speak but an alarm rang throughout the halls.

"Dr. Weir…please report to the infirmary! It's important!" Carson's voice was heard throughout the intercom. Ronon and Teyla didn't even bother to look at each other as they stood and sped towards the infirmary.

The sight that greeted them caused their blood to run cold. Rodney was twitching violently on the bed. His arms were flailing wildly and his mouth was open in a silent scream. His eyes were open but unseeing. It appeared like the scientist was in a great deal of pain.

"What's wrong doc?" Ronon asked.

"There's something wrong. His heart rate suddenly tripled and his blood pressure spiked. He actually seems to be experiencing some sort of mental pain that's affecting his body. If we don't wake him up soon, then his reading will go off the chart and at that moment we will definitely lose him. It's just unnatural for someone to survive long under these conditions," Carson explained as he rushed to strap the scientist to the stretcher. He administered sedatives to calm the man down, the flailing ceased but McKay vital reading were still too erratic.

"How long does he have?" Teyla asked, worry lacing her voice.

"A few hours maybe…a day at most," he answered.

"What can we do?" Ronon questioned. There must have been something they could do. They couldn't just sit by and watch the scientist slowly lose to something they couldn't even see.

"We have to wake him up somehow, but I don't know how to do that. I've tried everything I can think off…unless…" Carson began. He rushed to his computer and began to type rapidly. Ronon and Teyla approached him carefully.

"Unless?" Teyla repeated.

"A couple of years ago, SG-1 came across a machine that allowed a person to enter a completely virtual reality. The scientists back on earth began to experiment with this technology and then found out that they could link a person's dream to another. It would be like seeing the consciousness of someone who was dreaming," Carson answered. Ronon frowned, not understanding.

"So…what you're saying is that there's a chance that we can save him," he said.

"Yes, but it's complicated. Since we're actually talking about entered a person's consciousness I recommend that only one person entered, to prevent damage to Rodney's nervous system. First I have to talk to Dr. Weir about it and then we'll need to find a volunteer, preferably someone close to him…" Carson began.

"I'll do it," Ronon announced.

Carson looked at him quietly and then slowly nodded. "Fine, just let me talk to Elizabeth about it."

* * *

After taking care of all the procedures that had to be taken care of, Carson slowly hooked Ronon up to the machine that would allow him to enter Rodney's mind.

"I'm warning you now, Ronon, Rodney's life was never exactly pleasant. I ask that what you see in there will never be repeated under any circumstances," Carson warned. Ronon let out a loud grunt and Carson took that as a sign that he was agreeing. "I'm going to start the machine now."

Ronon closed his eyes and he felt a strange sensation pass through his body.

* * *

_Ronon opened his eyes and then realized that he wasn't in Atlantis anymore. He was in an open field with long grass. The field was empty and no one was there. It reminded him of the planet where Sheppard had been trapped with a group of humans who were trying to ascend._

_He heard a rustle in the leaves. Ronon turned around and saw a small boy running towards him. He appeared to be around 8 years old. He wore black slacks and a white button down shirt. His hair was black and his eyes were a clear blue. It took Ronon awhile to realize that this boy was actually Rodney McKay._

_Someone was chasing the boy. It was an older man wearing a black cape. He had eyes that were glowing blood red and sharp canine teeth._

_"Come back here boy!" the man shouted._

_"No!" Rodney yelled as he continued to run. He tripped in the grass and landed hard in the dirt._

_"Gotcha!" he older man yelled loudly. He approached the boy and grabbed him. He tugged at the collar of Rodney shirt, revealing his neck and then opened his mouth. The canine teeth that Ronon had previously noticed lengthened and then he watched in horror as the stranger sunk his fangs within Rodney's neck with the intention of drinking him dry._

_"Stop!" yelled another person. Ronon watched as another person rushed onto the scene. It was a woman with long blond hair and the same red eyes that the other had. The man ignored her and continued to suck the blood from Rodney's still body. "Release him this instance!" she shouted as her nails turned into razor sharp claw and she struck the man. He gasped in agony and released Rodney. He looked at the gaping wound in his chest and then gasped. He dropped to the floor and did not move again. "You're wicked ways have finally been punished. No one survives the poison from my claws."_

_The woman turned back to the child and frowned. He wouldn't survive in his current state. He had lost too much blood. The woman felt guilt well in her heart and sighed. She raised her arm above Rodney's mouth and then slit her wrist. Her blood leaked freely from the wound and splashed onto the boy's mouth. The boy unconsciously swallowed so he wouldn't choke. When enough blood was split, the woman covered her wrist with her other hand. A moment later she pulled it away and surprisingly the wound was healed._

_"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You're one of us now."_

_Ronon stood confused at the scene. He didn't understand what had just happened, but he knew that Rodney should have died from the lost of blood and yet his chest still rose and fell as if he was breathing._

_The scene changed._

_Ronon was now staring at an older version of Rodney McKay. He was wearing a black trench coat and boots. His hair was black and went to his shoulders. The woman that had been with him in the clearing was standing beside him. They were talking gently._

_"Rodney, you and I are the last of the elder race. The younger generations of vampires have taken over and soon they will overrun things," she said. "Do you remember the day I converted you?"_

_"I do."_

_"I still feel guilt over what happened that day. I was in charge of hunting the man that attacked you. If I had been more diligent then he would have never bitten you and you would have never become a vampire," she explained. Rodney shook his head._

_"There's no use thinking about it now. What's done is done," he answered. "Besides, I was bitten by the strongest vampire of our time. Now, the strongest ones among us are you and I."_

_"The covenant doesn't like that. I believe they will turn on us. It will probably happen sooner rather than later," she said. Rodney remained silent, knowing that she was right. "We might have strength but they are superior in numbers."_

_"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Rodney whispered as he passed his fingers through his hair._

_Ronon watched in silence. What was a vampire? Maybe if he watched more he would be able to understand what was happening. The scene changed once more._

_Rodney was leaning in front of the woman's body. Wounds were apparent all over her body. She had been in a great battle and lost. Rodney was also wounded, but not as severely. Bodies littered the ground around them. Ronon guessed that they were the younger vampires that the couple had been speaking about. It appeared that Rodney had won the battle but at a great cost._

_"Rodney…please live on…" the woman whispered. She smile once and then her eyes closed. Rodney let a tear slip down his cheek as he stood. From that moment on he wandered around, not caring about the affairs of the other vampires. He was the oldest one alive. He had lost his reason for living…wandering dark alleys and towns. Like this, he watched the humans evolve without a word. Watching and learning._

_Ronon felt his heart ache at the scene. Things changed again_

_When the 20th century came around, Rodney was found wandering through a town in Scotland. He was walking when he heard the sound of a young boy crying. Usually he would ignore it, but something drew him to the sound. He found the boy crying in the streets._

_"What's the matter?" he asked._

_The boy looked up at the longhaired man and then sniffed._

_"I can't find my mother…Daddy died and I can't find her anymore…" he whispered. Rodney sighed and kneeled down to the child's level. He knew that he shouldn't meddle in human affairs, but he just couldn't leave the boy here._

_"What's your name?" he asked._

_"Carson. Carson Beckett."_

_"Well Carson. How about you come with me and I'll help you find your mother," he offered. Carson looked up and wiped away his tears with the back of his sleeve._

_"Okay…"_

_Ronon smiled. He had always wondered how the two had met. But then he realized that Rodney mustn't have aged much in the past years if he had meet Dr. Beckett when he was a child. Once again the scene changed. After two years, Carson finally left Rodney, but only after the two of them had become close. The Scottish man had finally found his mother and Rodney was forced to part with his companion._

_This left Rodney with a sense of longing towards his own loneliness. He decided to disguise himself as a small child and entered an orphanage. He wanted to experience the childhood that he had never had…_

_It wasn't long afterwards that the McKay family adopted him. He fooled them all by appearing like a normal human, but on the inside he was still a vampire._

_Ronon now felt sorry for the scientist. He had never understood the reason why the scientist was always so snappy, but he had been abandoned so many times that he was afraid to open himself up to other people. Once again Ronon felt the scenery change. He was standing in the familiar halls of Atlantis. Rodney rushed past him and then headed towards the infirmary. Ronon quickly followed him. Once they entered the infirmary, Rodney closed the door and sighed tiredly._

_"Rodney? What's wrong?" Carson said._

_"I need to feed," he muttered as his blue eyes flashed red. Carson frowned._

_"You just feed yesterday," Carson complained. He moved to the small refrigerator and then took out a small pouch of red blood. He tossed it to Rodney and then the scientist sighed again._

_"I know, but there's something about the new member on our team that causes my blood to react. I can't help it," Rodney said. He looked at the bag of blood with a hungry look on his face._

_"Ronon Dex? The off worlder?" Carson repeated. "What happened?"_

_"You shouldn't worry about it. There's just something very appealing about him. I can smell his blood clearer then others and it's tempting me…" Rodney whispered. He opened his mouth and his canine teeth lengthened drastically. Then the scientist sunk his fangs into the bag._

_Ronon's face turned green as he watched Rodney drink the blood. He guessed that was what a vampire was. Though he was curious about the way Rodney had described his reactions to him._

_Once the bag was finished, Rodney threw it in the trash and licked his lips for stray droplets of blood. Ronon noticed that he wasn't as jumpy anymore and his face had regained some colour._

"Are you having fun looking through my memories?" Ronon heard a voice whisper from behind him. He turned around and came face to face with the vampire like Rodney, the one that used the illusion to hide. His hair was longer now, up to his waist, and he still wore the black trench coat with the leather boots. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was giving Ronon a calculated look.

"Rodney?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You look different."

"This is my true form."

"So…I actually came here to save you," Ronon stated bluntly as he looked into the blue eyes of the vampire.

"So you did, but I can't leave…"

"Why?"

"You know I'm not human. I'm almost the same as the Wraith. I feed apon others to survive. If others found out then I would be killed. After surviving for so long, it would be ironic for me to be killed by those I consider closest to me. That would be the most painful end for me," Rodney explained.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," Ronon answered. Rodney gave him an odd look.

"Why? Don't you think of me as disgusting? I'm like the Wraith who you despise so much," he murmured. Ronon frowned in annoyance.

"You're not like the Wraith. You do not kill your victims. Maybe once we get out of here you'll explain what this whole vampire thing is…" Ronon said. A shock look crossed Rodney's face and then it softened. A smile appeared on McKay's face.

"Yeah…when we get out…" he whispered.

* * *

Back in the real Atlantis, Ronon opened his eyes and groaned as he sat up. His muscles were stiff from being still for so long.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

Carson approached him and quietly checked him over with the Ancient scanner. He smiled and told Ronon that everything that perfect. "You've actually been unconscious for 5 hours," he added.

"How's McKay?" he asked as he thought about the scientist. Beckett smiled.

"He's fine. He actually woke up a few seconds before you did," Carson explained as he turned around and gazed at Rodney, who was sitting up in his bed.

"Is it possible for us to talk…in private?" Ronon asked quietly, making sure that no one around them could hear his words. Rodney turned his head in his direction and their eyes met for a brief moment before the vampire looked away.

"I'll see what I can do," he answered.

"Oh and Carson, you where cute as a kid," Ronon stated as the doctor walked by him. The Scottish man blushed and then took a swing at Ronon's head, but the Satedan dodged and let out a small laugh. Carson muttered something under his breath and then stomped away.

* * *

It wasn't until the next day that Ronon was allowed to speak to Rodney privately. The doctor had coddled the scientist until he was sure that the vampire was all right, but after much insistence from the scientist, Beckett was forced to let the leave the infirmary.

"What now?" Ronon asked as they walked through the halls of Atlantis. People passed by them in a hurry, but none of them actually took the time to pay attention to what they were saying.

"Life goes on. For me, this changes nothing," Rodney answered quietly. He stopped walking when they reached his room. Ronon halted at his side. "If you want to talk more about it then come in." With that Rodney entered his room. Ronon followed without a second thought. He closed and locked the door behind him and then turned back to Rodney.

"I want to try and understand what happened to you. So, let's start at the beginning…" Ronon said quietly. Rodney sat on his bed and then sighed.

"You saw what happened when I was bitten all those years ago by that rogue vampire. He was a criminal who hunted for pleasure and not for survival. I was his last victim. Adrian killed him the day he bit me. Oh, Adrian's the woman who you saw me with…She saw that I was dying and converted me to save me. From that day on, I was vampire. She taught me how to fight, how to feed, how to survive. I watched as the human's waged war on each other for many years. And then finally all those of the elder race died," Rodney explained as he tried to remember what had happened all those years ago. Ronon, captivated, nodded in interest.

"You mentioned that before with that woman. Something about you being the last ones," he said.

"Right, the elder ones were the oldest among our kind. The strongest ones of our race. I became one of them the day I was bitten. The one who bit me, that rogue vampire, was one of the first ever bitten. The one who saved me was an elder. Usually only one vampire does the process of conversion, but I had two. I inhered their power the day they bit me. Anyways, the elder race was dying because they were so arrogant, thinking that they were above everyone else. The humans hunted them all and killed them. Adrian and I were the only survivors," Rodney whispered. He had personally known many of them when he had been growing up, but all of them had been foolish in their own ways.

"What was the covenant you spoke off?" Ronon said as he said on a chair he found lying around. He was tired of standing for so long.

"The covenant? It was a gathering of vampires that lived together as a group. The younger generation were the ones that thought of it. Adrian and I joined them, but they grew resentful when we they realised our power. Power that they wished they had. One day they betrayed us. They cornered Adrian and I and attacked us…She didn't survive. I fought, but there were too many of them. I slaughtered most them and the others fled. There, surrounded by the million of corpses of the other vampires, I wept and from that moment on I wandered," Rodney mumbled tiredly as a glazed look crossed his eyes. He thought about all the blood stained bodies that he had ripped to shreds and their blood staining his pale fingers. "She was like my mother for all those years. She took care of me during my weakest moments. Her death hit me hard."

"That's when you met Dr. Beckett." Ronon smiled in amusement as he thought about the little boy that had been crying in the streets.

"He was so adorable back them. I took him under my wing and protected him for two years as we travelled together. He knew about my secret, but he never looked at me in disgust. I was sad when he left, but it couldn't be helped," Rodney added quietly. He smiled at the memory. "After that, I only met him again at the Atlantis expedition, but by then I had already changed my appearance, masking myself as a human…even allowing myself to be adopted by a family. I didn't take him long to realize that it was me. After all I did give him a lot of hints," he answered quietly. Rodney almost laughed as he remembered the look on Carson's face when he finally figured everything out.

"What about me? You mentioned something about me in your memories," Ronon inquired carefully. Rodney was silent for a moment. He was silently debating whether or not to tell the Satedan about the truth. He decided it was probably best if he knew.

"When I first met you I felt something strange drawing me to you. You see, everyone's blood had a different taste, but yours smelled the most tantalizing to me. You have no idea how much self-restraint it required for me not to sink my fangs into your neck the first time we met. I can smell your blood so clearly. It calls out to me…even now," Rodney whispered as his eyes briefly flashed red. He shook his head and the color faded away. Ronon gulped.

"You wouldn't actually kill me would you?"

Rodney gave him an odd look.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not the type of person to drain all the blood from a person's body. All I need is enough to survive and that isn't much. I usually get blood from the infirmary. I doesn't taste as good as fresh blood but there's nothing I can do about that," Rodney explained. Ronon nodded, feeling that he now understood more. He felt like this had allowed him to get closer to Rodney. However, he was quite confused about the effect his blood had on McKay. From what he understood, his blood was like the tastiest meal McKay could ever have. He felt kind of weird at thinking himself as a meal. The Wraith feed apon his kind, but McKay was different. He would never kill unless provoked.

"That's nice to know," Ronon mumbled. Rodney smiled and then relaxed his body. A moment passed by and Ronon watched in amazement as the illusion around McKay was lifted. The sight of the man he had seen within Rodney's consciousness greeted Ronon. It never ceased to amaze Ronon as he looked at Rodney's long waist length black hair and lengthened fangs.

'This is going to take some time to get used to…' Ronon thought as he looked at the vampire.

* * *

This actually a four part story so if you enjoyed it there will be more coming.

Please review.


	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis

Someone mentioned that there were some errors in the text so I corrected them. If anyone sees any more errors, please tell me so that I can fix them. Thank you.

* * *

Part 2

Life soon fell back into place after the incident with Rodney. Some people began to notice how Ronon was beginning to get closer to the scientist, but no one commented for fear of retribution from the Satedan.

At the moment, Rodney was typing away furiously on his laptop, eyes scanning the computer screen. He was seated in the mess hall with Ronon at his side. The wild man was eating quietly at his side. Neither spoke as Ronon pushed his dessert towards Rodney. The scientist looked up and gladly accepted the sweet. Rodney had explained to Ronon that the only reason why he ate so much was to try to keep his blood level up. If his blood level lowered too much then he would need to feed and that always led to the chances of getting caught.

"Thanks," Rodney muttered as he slowly munched on the pastry that Ronon had given to him. Ronon looked over Rodney's shoulder and at the screen, trying to make sense of the Ancient words.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"It's a way of improving the power throughout Atlantis. If we can somehow lower the power of the city and still keep enough to work every system that we need than we'd be able to save a lot of energy. This way we won't always be scrambling for power when we really need it," the scientist explained as the looked over the words on the screen. Ronon arched an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment.

Suddenly alarms went off throughout the base.

"Dr. McKay, Colonel Sheppard, please report to the control room immediately!" someone shouted over the intercom.

Rodney sighed and resisted the urge to slam his head onto the table. "There's never a moment's rest in this place."

Ronon patted his back in sympathy. He understood that Rodney was always under constant pressure. "Let's go see what life threatening situation we've gotten ourselves into this time." Ronon stood up from his seat. Rodney followed his example and then they began to make their way to the control room.

Once they arrived, Rodney was almost pushed off his feet by a bunch of people rushing out of the room. Ronon helped him stay on his feet and then they pushed their way through the crowd. They immediately spotted Weir and Sheppard talking rapidly in the corner of the room. Rodney and Ronon made their way to them and entered the conversation.

"What's happened this time and what do I need to do to fix it?" Rodney muttered angrily. He muttered a few other words underneath his breath, but their ears weren't able to pick it up.

Elizabeth sighed and turned towards the scientist.

"It's just the usual we're going to die because the enemy is heading here scenario," Elizabeth explained quietly. McKay blinked in annoyance.

"Do I look like a mind reader? I don't know what you're talking about," Rodney answered.

"The long range scanners have noticed a ship coming towards us. We believe it to be the Replicators. It's moving way too fast for it to be a Wraith ship," she responded quickly, making sure that Rodney understood everything.

"We were thinking of sending out the Dedalus and intercepting them, but the ship is under heavy repairs from its recent battles. Maybe we could take the Dedalus three quarters of the way there and then make the last jump with the puddle jumper. What do you think about that McKay?" Sheppard offered as he thought about the military strategies.

Rodney rolled his eyes at the colonel.

"It's a fine plan if you're trying to get us killed. The getting there would be easy part but how would be destroy the ship approaching. You're forgetting that the replicators have superior firepower and are much more capable at fighting in space then we are. So, what was your plan on that? Hm?" McKay stated as he glared at Sheppard. The military man shrugged tiredly and turned to Elizabeth so that she could continue speaking.

"Well…we were hoping that you could take care of that part," she said.

"Of course, leave all the hard parts to me," Rodney muttered. Ronon grinned, knowing that by the end of the day McKay would have a few plans. "I'll think about it and get back to you at the end of the day."

Without waiting for them to say anything, Rodney turned on his heels and stomped away. Ronon gave Sheppard a slight nod and then followed the scientist out of the room. He found the scientist muttering under his breath in one of the empty science labs, typing away on his laptop.

"Do you have any idea?" Ronon asked.

"A few, but none worth mentioning. The fact is that the Puddle jumper isn't built for war combat. It wouldn't stand a chance against an actual war ship. As long as it was cloaked then there's a chance that we can get close, but the problem would be how to destroy it. The only way to do that with the resources we have would be to infiltrate the ship and destroy it from within. It would be a suicide mission," Rodney explained as he continued to type away. He paused for a moment and then looked up at Ronon.

"Sounds like a job for us," Ronon commented.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Rodney muttered. He began to type once more and Ronon sat down quietly in an empty seat next to the scientist.

"I have a question to ask you," Ronon asked. Rodney looked up and Ronon took this as a sign to continue. "How old exactly are you? I know you've been living for a long time, but I don't have the slightest idea how old you are."

Rodney thought about it, slowly calculating the years he had been alive in the world.

"I've been alive for at least 9 centuries," he responded.

"Wow…you don't look a day over 30," Ronon answered in shock. He knew that Rodney had been alive for along time, but he had never imagined the vampire had been alive this long.

"Vampires age slowly…very slowly," Rodney answered. Although he had lived a long time and seen many things, he still felt young.

* * *

"I see you solved the problem," Sheppard said at the briefing that night. They were all seated at the respected seats and were looking at the papers that Rodney had handed out.

"What are we looking at here exactly?" Elizabeth explained calmly as she looked at the papers in her hands.

"These are the schematics of the ship headed towards us. The replicators use similar technology to those of the Ancient so we can safely say that the ship headed towards is of Ancient design. In all Ancient warships, the key circuit and consoles are always located at the same place. This prevented people from forgetting were they were. What we can do is infiltrate the ship and make our way to one of these key consoles, then download a self-destruct program. That way we'll have enough time to make it off the ship," Rodney explained. Sheppard smiled.

"See I knew you could do it," he announced. Rodney glared at him.

"I still think it's a suicide plan," he muttered. Teyla had to agree with the scientist for once. Although they had had more dangerous missions, she didn't feel comfortable wandering into such a dangerous place.

"So how to get on," Elizabeth said.

"I estimate that the ship will drop out of Hyperspace at this location," Rodney responded as he pulled out a map and placed it on the table. He pointed at a certain location on the map and showed it to Elizabeth. "They'll want to stop here and make sure that all their systems are operational before making the last jump to Atlantis. That will be our chance. We'll have about 1 hour to get in and out."

"That sounds like a plan," Elizabeth announced. "You'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

Rodney sighed. He would have to go see Carson for an early feeding. He wasn't going in enemy territory with only half of his strength. Carson wouldn't be happy about that.

* * *

"You want to feed earlier then normal because of this mission. It's quite understandable because of who you're facing," Carson answered tiredly as he slowly made his way to the small fridge where he kept all the blood. Ronon watched curiously as the doctor tossed a bag of blood into McKay's hands. He had never actually seen the vampire feed in person, so he was a bit curious about the process.

"Are you sure you want to watch laddie?" Carson asked. "It isn't exactly a pretty sight at first."

"I'll be fine."

Ronon shrugged and then turned to Rodney. The vampire ignored him and then opened his mouth. His canine teeth lengthened into fangs and Rodney sunk his fangs within the bag. Slowly, the vampire began to drink the blood that escaped from the bag. It wasn't long before the small bag was empty. Rodney retracted his fangs and his teeth returned to normal. He through the bag into the trash and then turned to Ronon who was looking a bit green in the face. Rodney licked the excess blood from his lips and grinned.

"Carson did warn you," he said.

"I'm not disgusted in the least, just surprised…" Ronon responded. Rodney shook his head and then silently thanked Carson before heading back to his own room. He might as well try to get some sleep before the mission the next morning. He and Ronon went their separate ways and headed towards their rooms.

* * *

The next morning, Rodney awoke early feeling a sense of dread tingling throughout his body. He had a few hours until the departure so he quietly got out of bed and silently made his way through the empty hall of Atlantis. It was too early for anyone to be awake so Rodney was alone. He wandered out into the balcony of the city and gazed quietly out into the open sea. The waves splashed against the edges of the city and Rodney felt a sense of calmness surround him. He could always find some peace of mind when he looked at the water.

"What are you doing awake at this god-awful hour?" someone said from behind Rodney. The vampire turned around and came face to face with Sheppard. The colonel was frowning at him for some reason.

Sheppard had spotted Rodney looking out towards the sea and had called out his name. As the scientist turned around, John could have sworn that he saw a flicker around McKay's body and he caught a glimpse of another person. A man with soft features and long black hair. When he looked again, all he saw was McKay so he placed the issue at the back of his mind thinking it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

"Colonel?" Rodney questioned worriedly.

"It's noting important. I just could have sworn I just saw someone else standing on the balcony," he said. Rodney frowned. His illusion must have faltered for a moment.

"You must have imagined it," he lied. Sheppard shrugged and then turned his attention towards the ocean. They were quiet for an instant, but Sheppard decided to break the silence.

"So…you've gotten closer to Ronon lately," he commented. Rodney arched an eyebrow and then nodded. "I just wanted to know if he was bothering you are not. If he's always following you like that it must get annoying. If you want I can order him to stop," Sheppard offered. Rodney shook his head and smiled at the thought of the brown haired man that always followed him around.

"I'm so used to it now that it would feel like something was missing if it suddenly stopped," he explained. Rodney fell silent and then turned his back to Sheppard. He waited a moment for the colonel to speak, but when nothing came he walked away. His peaceful moment was over and it was time to get back to work.

* * *

"Have I mentioned yet that I still think that this is a horrible idea?" Rodney stated as they were beamed into the Dedalus. Sheppard ignored him, already used to his complaining. Teyla, on the other hand, sighed in exasperation at the scientist.

"Yes Rodney. You've already mentioned it 5 times. Even if you say it another time it won't change the colonel's opinion," she stated. Rodney silently glared at her and then headed towards the scientific area that was designated for scientific work. He heard the heavy footfall of Ronon behind him and knew that the Satedan was still going to follow him around even though they weren't in Atlantis anymore.

Once they reached the lab room, Rodney set up his laptop and began to type. The other scientists around him turned to look at him in admiration briefly and then quietly returned to their work when Ronon glared at them.

"How long until we need to make our drop off?" Ronon asked as he leaned on the desk, staring at Rodney with a smirk.

"About 12 hours actually and then from there another 3," he explained. Ronon groaned and then resisted the urge to slam his head on the table. He wasn't the type of person that could stay inert for such a long period of time.

"Do you have to work right now? Let's do something interesting," he asked.

"What do you have in mind?" Rodney questioned as he stopped typing and looked up. He softly lowered the screen of his laptop and then closed it completely. He could always work later.

"Let's spar," Ronon offered, "You said so yourself that you were stronger that normal humans. I want to test that."

Rodney lifted an eyebrow in amusement and then smirked at the thought.

"Let's do that," he said. They both exited the room and headed towards the training area on the ship. The managed to find an empty room and entered, closing and locking the door behind them. Rodney took a few steps away from Ronon and sat down on the blue mat on the floor. He removed his socks and then stood back up. Ronon did the same. When they were about to begin, Rodney closed his eyes and relaxed. The illusion around him simmered and then faded away leaving him in his original for.

Rodney tucked a stray strand of black hair behind his rounded ear and then fell into an attack position, his forearms skilfully protecting his chest. His legs got into a comfortable position and Rodney waited for Ronon to make his move. Ronon grinned and lunged forward with a sharp movement. Rodney back stepped the attack and jumped backwards. Ronon landed hard into the mat below and he grumbled incoherently in anger.

"There's a reason I hide my strength you know. If someone were to notice that someone like me, a scientist with no military skills, had super human strength then I would be immediately put under suspicion and then discovered. It's quite unnerving to have to hold back so much," Rodney explained as he relaxed his posture. Ronon quietly got back to his feet and lunged once more. Rodney took a step forwards and passed by Ronon just as he lunged. Ronon stopped before he could fall and then grumbled. He turned to face Rodney again.

"You're too damn fast," he complained as he tried to catch his breath. He was moving as fast as he could, but it was nothing compared to the speed that McKay could muster.

"I can go faster," the vampire commented as he gracefully approached Ronon. He smiled at the sweat covered Satedan and raised a hand to touch Ronon's face. The Satedan grabbed his limb and pulled the vampire to the mat and then jumped on him to keep him in place. Rodney, not expecting the assault, squeaked as he found himself with his back into the mat and Ronon hovering over him.

Rodney blushed as he realized the awkwardness of his position. He struggled slightly and then stilled when Ronon lowered his face towards the vampire's. Rodney opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly he got a good whiff of Ronon's scent and the scent of the blood beneath his flesh.

Rodney gasped as he felt an urge to sink his fangs within the Satedan's jugular vein. His fangs unconsciously lengthened and he arched his back, causing his body to slightly touch Ronon's. The Satedan froze. He looked down and then realized that Rodney's eyes were flickering between its usual blue color and then red tint that appeared when Rodney was using his vampire powers.

"Rodney?" he called out.

"Get off…or I might…" McKay began. He opened his mouth showing his fangs to show Ronon what he meant.

Ronon froze but didn't move. Rodney found his body moving against his will and his teeth were soon grazing against Ronon's neck. Just as he was about to bite down there was a loud banging from the door. Ronon jumped back and Rodney immediately replaced his illusion before collapsing onto the mat, taking deep breaths. They heard a key being inserted into the door and then the door swung open, revealing Sheppard. The colonel entered the room. His eyes shifted from the panting Rodney and the pale Ronon.

"What's wrong?" Sheppard asked as he frowned. He could sense that there was something wrong here.

"Nothing…I was just teaching Rodney a few moves, but I've decided that he's hopeless in any sort of combat techniques," Ronon lied easily. He just couldn't take his mind off of what had almost just happened. Rodney had almost bitten him. Sheppard gave the Satedan an unbelieving look.

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale," he commented.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ronon mumbled. John, not believing a word, shrugged and headed towards Rodney. He extended his hand towards the scientist so he could help him up. Rodney hesitated for a moment before he accepted the limb and stood with the help of the colonel.

"Some of the scientists said that they were having problems with some of the secondary controls. They were hoping that you could help them with it," John explained. Rodney nodded and immediately fled the room without another word. He didn't look at Ronon as he passed.

Sheppard gave both of them an odd look.

"Is there something between you two that I should know about?" he asked the Satedan. Ronon glared at him and then stomped out of the room. Sheppard sighed and made his way out of the room, heading towards Teyla so that he could tell her about the strange mood swings of his other two teammates.

* * *

Ronon wandered aimlessly through the halls of the Dedalus. He was still trying to grasp the concept that Rodney had almost bitten him.

"Ronon? Is there something wrong?" he heard someone asked. He turned around and came face to face with Teyla who was looking at him with a worried expression.

"Yeah…I'm fine," he murmured. Personally he actually wished that everyone would just leave him alone so he could think about what had happened. Teyla didn't believe him.

"There's no reason for you to lie to me Ronon. You'll probably feel better if you talk about it," Teyla answered. Ronon let out a grunt and headed towards the ships cafeteria. Teyla smiled and took this as a sign to follow him. Once they arrived at the cafeteria, they grabbed their meal and then headed towards an isolated empty table so that no one could hear their conversation. They sat down and silence passed between them. It was only a few minutes later that Ronon decided to speak up.

"What would happen if you were almost hurt by someone close to you?"

Teyla gave him an odd look, but silently thought about the question. After much thought she turned back to Ronon and smiled.

"That depends on what was done. What I find really matters is that it**almost** happened? This friend of yours stopped himself before this hurtful deed could be done. If you're really so close to each other then I believe that he wouldn't try to hurt you on purpose," Teyla explained. Ronon thought about what she said and then found a bit of truth there. He quietly picked at his food as he thought.

"That makes sense," he mumbled.

Teyla gave him an odd look and then reached out to touch Ronon's forearm in a comforting gesture.

"Did you and Rodney have a fight?" she asked.

"It's not important," Ronon whispered as he took a bite of his meal. Teyla smiled and then began to eat her own meal. She could tell that her advice had helped. With that thought in mind, a large smile appeared on her face as she ate.

* * *

Rodney, on the other hand, was panicking wildly. He was helping the scientists on the Dedalus in an attempt to force his dark thoughts to the back of his mind. His thoughts, however, were not so easily dismissed.

"Dr. McKay, there seems to be a problem with the shields at the moment. They don't seem to want to turn on," a scientist stated, snapping Rodney out of his thoughts. The vampire headed to one of the consoles and ran a diagnostic of the program. He sighed when he realized what was wrong.

"That's probably because the power usually used for the shields is being directed towards another conduit and isn't reaching the shield generators. You need to reroute the power so that it can go back on course," Rodney stated, annoyed these scientists had made such a simple error. "Why was the power redirected towards another piece of equipment?"

"Well, we were hovering over Atlantis and we needed to make repairs so we decided to use that power from the shield generator to help us with the area that were in most need of repairs. We must have forgotten to put them back online when we left the planet," another scientist stated. Rodney resisted the urge to strangle the scientist.

"Are you a complete idiot? Under no circumstances, I mean absolutely no circumstances, are you to disengage the shields. What would have happened if an enemy suddenly dropped out of hyperspace above the planet and opened fire onto the ship? You would have all died and it would have been your fault!" Rodney snapped coldly, letting his anger be directed towards this scientist.

"Well, we expected the long-range sensors to notice any dangers if there were any," the scientist said, trying to regain his honour.

"What would have happened if the sensors weren't functioning properly? You can never expect things to go as planned in this galaxy or else you'll find yourself losing you're life. Shields must always be active in case of an emergency. So, what have you learned today?" Rodney said in a condescending tone.

"Shield offline equals bad," the scientist mumbled. Rodney threw his arms up in the air.

"Thank god, there might actually be hope for him yet," he grumbled sarcastically. The scientist looked at his feet in shame and then left Rodney's side so that he could fix his mistake. Rodney, thinking that his help wasn't needed anymore, hastily left the room so he could go to his room to get some sleep.

Rodney opened the door to his room and stepped in without looking up. He closed and locked the door and then finally looked up. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Ronon sitting quietly on his bed.

"Ronon!" he shouted loudly in surprise.

"McKay," Ronon responded with a slight nod of his head.

"What are you doing here?" Rodney asked as he tried to avoid Ronon's gaze without seeming too obvious about it.

"I want to talk about what happened earlier," he explained quietly. Rodney froze and then an ashamed look crossed his face.

"I'm so sorry. I almost lost control and I came so close to biting you," he mumbled.

"What exactly happened?"

"Well, you got close and suddenly I could smell everything so clearly. I could feel the blood pumping through your veins and smell its sweet taste. That was the closest I'd ever been to you, so it was kind of overwhelming," Rodney explained. Ronon now understood Rodney's reaction when they had been so close to each other. He knew about the reaction Rodney had when they were far apart and it was only natural that that reaction would increase if the were closer to each other.

Ronon smiled and stood. He approached Rodney making sure that he stayed far enough and calmly reached out to pat Rodney on the shoulder. Rodney looked up in surprise.

"Don't worry about it. I was just surprised," Ronon said. Rodney placed his hand on top of Ronon's and a smile touched his lips.

"Thank you."

"Oh, I got this for you from the cafeteria," Ronon said as he pulled out a chocolate bar from his pant pocket. McKay reached out and gladly accepted the gift, his smile never leaving his face.

* * *

When the twelve hours were up, Rodney and the rest of the team were getting ready for their departure. They were currently seated in the puddle jumper, waiting for the Dedalus to drop out of Hyperspace so that they could exit the ship.

"We'll drop out of hyperspace in 3…2…1…" Rodney counted down. As he spoke, there was a slight turbulence around them, a clear sign that they had finally slowed down. The intercom came to life and the team was given the signal to proceed out of the hanger.

Sheppard immediately brought the Ancient device online and opened the hanger doors. He flew the ship out and thus began their long journey into space.

About 1 hour into the trip, McKay stood up from his seat and headed towards the back of the jumper to look at some of the operating panels. Sheppard turned his head towards him, but kept most of his attention towards his driving.

"What are you doing McKay?" he asked.

"I'm just looking over the power requirements of the jumper, we wouldn't want to make it there and not be able to make back," Rodney explained without turned to look at the colonel. Sheppard nodded and turned back to the front. Now it was Teyla's turn to turn to Rodney.

"How are things going back there?" she questioned.

"They're looking alright at the moment," McKay said as he stopped what he was doing and returned to his seat. Ronon yawned tiredly and then slouched in his chair.

"There's two hours left to wait right? So what are we going to do?" he asked.

Rodney stuffed his hand in his jacket pocket and then pulled out a deck of cards. He showed the item to Teyla and Ronon.

"How about I teach the both of you to play cards?" he offered. Ronon shrugged and Teyla moved closer.

"Sounds better than doing nothing," Ronon said.

Sheppard turned to them, a look of playful resentment on his face. "Not fair, you guys get to play while I have to do all the work."

"You are the designated driver so pay attention to the road," Rodney retorted back. The scientist turned his attention back to his two off world teammates and then began to explain the principal of certain card games.

* * *

When the third hour passed by, Sheppard slowed down the puddle jumper, activated the cloaking device and waited for the Replicator ship to drop out of Hyperspace at the location that Rodney had calculated. It wasn't long before the warship exited out of warp space and slowed down to a complete halt.

Rodney observed the Replicator ship in amazement. It was at least bigger than 100 puddle jumpers and it was covered in canons and other weapons. The entire ship was covered in thick steel plates that added protection to the entire vessel. It was quite a sight to behold.

"It's show time," Rodney announced. Sheppard nodded and started the engines of the puddle jumper and skilful made his way towards the ship, making sure he wasn't detected.

Now, the fun began.

* * *

Please Review. 


	3. Secret 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

* * *

Part 3

Sheppard managed to evade all of the Replicator's sensors and snuck in quietly through the hangar door of the ship. As soon as they landed, everyone geared up and got ready to exit the jumper.

"You would leave the cloak on," Rodney stated. "We wouldn't want the replicators to discover the ship before we have the chance to get back here. Everyone remember that we only have an hour to do this so let's get a move on it. As usual, when dealing with the replicators try not you the disrupter too much because we don't want them to find a way to get around it." Rodney handed each a disrupter gun and tried to reinforce his point.

The team exited the ship, keeping the cloaking device active and slowly made their way into the ship. They passed numerous halls, but none seemed to interest McKay who usually took the time to analyze technology he had never seen before. Ronon stared at the hall in boredom. The lights were dim and the halls were bare and painted white. It gave people a cold and dreary feeling. Suddenly Rodney stopped and looked at the flat scanner he was carrying in his hands.

"This can't be right," he whispered.

"What's the matter McKay?" Sheppard asked as he approached the doctor, gun ready in hand for anything that might jump out at them.

"I can't find the control panel. It should be down that hall, but I don't see it," Rodney answered as he looked down the dark hall. Sheppard frowned and then his face took on a strained look.

"Is there anyway that we can find it?" he asked.

"No."

"Then we should head back," Ronon said. He could tell that the colonel's words were annoying Rodney and he thought it might be best for them to start heading back.

" No! We didn't come this far only to head back at the slightest glitch. Is there any other way that we can somehow destroy this ship?" Sheppard muttered angrily and he turned his upset eyes towards the scientist. Rodney went silent and quietly looked at his scanner. He pushed a few bottom, his eyes scanning the information, before he pulled back and gave the colonel a strained nod.

"There is a way," he mumbled.

"Then this will be Plan B," Sheppard answered back as he lowered his gun.

"What exactly is Plan B?" Teyla asked as she turned to Rodney, asking him to explain. Rodney showed her his scanner and pointed to a specific area within the schematics.

"This area right here is where the most important function are. This would include the hyper drive engines and live support as well as all the power supplies for the ship. If we could somehow cause an explosion in that area then the ship will be wrought with massive secondary explosions. It would be enough to implode the ship from within," Rodney explained as he zoomed into the area he mentioned and spoke.

"C4…I like this plan. I always enjoyed blowing things up," Sheppard said. Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind and he frowned. "Why wasn't this designated Plan A? I would have like this plan better than the other one."

Rodney sighed, not really wanting to explain himself, but he knew that the colonel wouldn't leave him alone until he knew.

"Plan A was to infiltrate a small isolated area and upload a self-destruct protocol that we could active from the puddle jumper once we back in space. The good thing about that plan was that it was an ISOLATED area. Plan B involved a highly patrolled area where security is at its tightest. There is no way that we slip by undetected," Rodney grumbled as he gave Sheppard a smug look. Sheppard processed the information in his head and then frowned at the scientist.

"So…we're going with Plan B because…" he began.

"Because you want to destroy this ship at all cost, so we might as well just go in through the front door. This will be the most effective way to destroy the ship," Rodney said. He shut down his scanner and placed it in his pack. He had already memorized the location of the main console and would be able to get there without its aid. Ronon smirked as a sudden thought entered his mind. He decided to voice it out.

"Small chance of success, certainty of death…what are we waiting for?" he said, a smirked on his face.

Sheppard rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"No more_Lord of the Rings_ for you, Ronon," Sheppard grumbled.

Rodney shook his head and then began the long walk towards the room where the main console was kept. The journey was done in silent. As they got closer to the room, they began to see more replicators moving around, almost getting caught a few times because they weren't careful. By the time they were within the sight of the console room, there were many replicators walking too and from the room. The team was only managing to stay hidden because they had managed to find an isolated corner where they could stay out of sight.

"So what's the plan?" Teyla said. Sheppard turned to Rodney to see if he had the permission to just blast the heck out of all the replicators that were in the vicinity. Rodney sighed at the enthusiasm that Sheppard showed at the thought of blasting things. He nodded and immediately Sheppard shot out from the shadows and began his trigger-happy fest. Rodney left his hiding place when he was sure that the coast was clear, ignoring the replicator blocks on the ground, and headed towards the console. He bit his lip as he began to type on the console. Meanwhile, Sheppard and Teyla were setting explosives all around the room, mostly targeting the areas were power was stored.

"McKay," Ronon called out.

The scientist looked up. Ronon was pointing at something in the corner of the room and he turned his attention towards it. His eyes widened as his gaze fell apon the familiar sight of a ZedPM. There were three of them.

"Should we grab one or two?" Ronon asked.

"Grab one. Since we've announced our presence already we might as well take a souvenir," Sheppard stated. Ronon nodded and rushed to the Zero point module. He pushed the top like Rodney usually did and waited until it rose from the device. Once freed, he grabbed it and stuffed it within his pack. By this point, Sheppard and Teyla and finished setting all the explosives within the designated locations. Rodney left the console and kneeled on the floor and took out more explosive from within his pack.

"I think we should place some C4 around the Hyper Drive as well…just in case," Rodney said as he threw the explosives towards Sheppard. "Just make sure that they're on a separate line then the explosive around the power sources."

Sheppard nodded and then hurried to complete his new task.

"I believe we should hurry," Teyla said. "The replicators are probably on their way already."

"Done!" Sheppard shouted as he rushed back to the group. Without a word, the team exited the room only to find a large amount of guns pointed at their face. They raised their hands and dropped their weapons.

"I think we just ran out of time," Ronon murmured.

* * *

"Do I need to remind anyone that I think that this was a very back idea?" Rodney muttered angrily as he paced within the cell that they had been placed in. Ronon attempted to touch the bars of the cell, but an electric current shocked his hand and he pulled it back.

"No, Rodney. You told us about a million times already," Sheppard muttered as he sat on the only bench located within the small confined area. Teyla was beside him, quiet but observing.

"Someone's coming," Ronon said as he looked at the door. Just like the Satedan had predicted, the door slid open and a group of replicators entered the room. They approached the outside of the cell and punched in the deactivation code for the cell. The door swung open and they entered the cell.

"Great, it's the usual mind probing procedure," Sheppard grumbled.

A Replicator approached each other them and then stuck their hands within the heads of the Atlanteans. They all cried out in pain and then collapsed to their knees. Rodney, the only one that had yet to experience the mind probe because he had been skipped over last time, gasped as he saw his memories flashing before his eyes.

Suddenly, the replicator that was probing him pulled away and took a few steps back. There was an odd look on his face. He moved back and then observed Rodney for a moment before leaving the room. The other replicators, finished with their own probing, once again locked up the cell and then left the room.

"I swear I hate it every time they do that," Sheppard complained as he rubbed his forehead, trying to forget the feeling of someone's hand stuck within his cranium.

"That wasn't very pleasant," Rodney murmured as he lifted himself from the ground. Ronon was at his side as soon as he recovered from his own shock.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Fine," he answered back a little shakily.

"I wonder why the one that was probing you left so abruptly," Teyla asked as she turned towards the scientist. Rodney shrugged, unsure of the reason. There was no way the replicator could have seen all of his memories, but the vampire found himself feeling slightly nervous at the thought.

The ship suddenly went through a sudden jerk and the group lost their balance.

"Great…we just jumped into Hyperspace," Rodney muttered. His day was getting worst and worst.

* * *

An hour later, a new group of replicators entered the room. This time, when they opened the cell door they all stood still as if waiting for orders.

"Take him," said one, pointing at Rodney, "The captain wished to experiment on him."

The replicators immediately gathered around Rodney, trying to corner him. Ronon immediately interposed himself between them and then glared at the lot of them. Sheppard did the same and Teyla was soon at his side.

"You can't take away our scientist without our permission," Sheppard teased.

One of the replicators swung his arm around and hit Sheppard across the face. The colonel fell to the ground and Teyla immediately went to his side to see if he was severely injured. Meanwhile another replicator had pushed Ronon aside as if he was a weak human and then grabbed Rodney. The vampire winced at the tight grip.

"Let go of me!" he yelled. The replicator ignored his struggles and pulled him out of the cell. Another replicator closed the cell and then they began to drag the scientist away. Rodney, however, tried to make their task as difficult as possible.

At one point, the replicators had enough and turned to the scientist. He raised his hand and then with one quick strike he plunged his limb within Rodney's back. The team watched in horror as blood flew everywhere, staining the white walls of the room. Blood leaked from the corner of the scientist's mouth and the red substance leaked from the open wound and spilled onto his uniform.

The replicator retracted his hand and watched as the scientist fell limply to the ground.

"Rodney!" Ronon shouted in panic, but the vampire didn't move.

* * *

He was surrounded by darkness and silence filled the area. His senses were dulled by the dark. Smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight were completely eliminated here. All there was was hunger. A deep never satisfying hunger that wouldn't go away. It burned within his stomach and then he snapped.

* * *

Rodney's illusion melted away, leaving him lying in the floor in his true form. Sheppard and Teyla gasped in shock at the sight before them. They had a hard time believing that this long black haired man with delicate features was actually Rodney. Ronon, unaffected, continued to shout from within the cell. He attempted to grab the bar, but his hands were once again given a massive shock.

"Rodney!" he yelled.

The body of the vampire convulsed and arched from the ground. His mouth opened in a silent scream and then allowed his fangs to lengthen to their normal vampire like length. Then, all of a sudden, everything stopped. Rodney fell limply to the ground and stilled.

Ronon's eyes widened and he began his struggle anew, not care if he was burning his hands apon the cell.

Rodney's eyes snapped open, but instead of the usual blue color of his irises it had changed to the deepest red possible. The color of blood. The vampire slowly sat up, his wound still oozing his life energy. He turned his gaze towards Ronon and their eyes met for an instant. At that moment Ronon felt a cold shiver run up his spine and suddenly he was glad that there was a barrier around the cage he was in. The pure look of blood lust on Rodney's face had caused his blood to run cold.

"Rodney…" Ronon drifted off.

The vampire's eyes left Ronon's and then turned to the replicators that were still the room. He grinned and jumped apon them, lengthening his claws and tearing them to pieces. Robotic arms and legs went flying in all directions because of the carnage Rodney caused. One of the replicators, frightened, ran towards the cage and disengaged the electric current so he could enter and protect himself. As soon as the door was unlocked, the vampire jumped apon him and continued his dissection. Even the replicators' fast assembling ability weren't able to put them back together after Rodney was done with them. The replicator blocks just stayed inert onto the ground.

When the carnage was done, Rodney turned his gaze to the humans within the cell. He took one step forward, fangs bared and claws showing. His eyes met Ronon's and the Satedan stared back with as much intensity as he could muster. Rodney froze. There was a flicker of blue within his irises and then he took a step back. With a loud cry, the vampire turned around and shot out of the room before he hurt any of his friends.

Sheppard let out a breath of relief.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

Ronon ignored him and then immediately took off after the vampire. It might have been complete idiocy, but he just couldn't allow the vampire to continue roaming around. He ignored Sheppard's shouting from the radio and followed the havoc that the vampire had caused. He found it quite amazing that Rodney had been able to cause so much damage to one replicator ship.

Sudden the air around him became tense and he heard a low ground coming from a nearby corner, surrounded in darkness. Ronon followed the sound and approached until he could seem the scientist huddled over in pain. His eyes were back to their blue color but the red was still bleeding into his irises.

"Don't come close to me," Rodney managed to say through the pain. Ronon let his eyes wander to the wound that had passed cleanly through Rodney's stomach. The wound was still bleeding. Rodney was loosing blood quickly and he had no way of replenishing himself. He had lost so much blood that he wasn't able to repair himself and because of that he had gone into a blood rage.

Ronon knew what he had to do. He felt his fear melt away and it was replaced by the sheer will of what he was about to do.

"Let me help you," Ronon whispered as he kneeled down in front of Ronon. The scientist looked up, frozen.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said forcefully, trying to get Ronon to move away. He wouldn't be able to deal with the scent of Ronon's blood as well as the blood lust he was currently experiencing. If he wasn't careful he would attack the Satedan and suck him dry.

"Let me help…you won't hurt me," Ronon murmured. He kneeled close so that his face was only a few centimetres away from Rodney's. The vampire opened his jaw and allowing his fangs to hover above Ronon's neck, as if asking for permission. Ronon nodded and Rodney closed his eyes. He pierced the flesh and revelled as the fresh blood touched his tongue. He greedily drank the substance and warmth filled his body. Ronon's blood taster much better then he could have ever imagined and he groaned because of the pleasure of it all.

Ronon, on the other hand, was completely dazed. Instead of the pain he was inspected, all he felt was pleasure, a tingle beneath his flesh as Rodney drank. The tingling sensation increased and Ronon felt a tightening in his lower belly. He knew he was aroused by the action of Rodney drinking his blood. His eyes were glazed over and his lips were parted in a wonderful gasp. His arms remained limp at his side as he revelled in the pleasure Rodney was causing him.

When Rodney felt the blood lust disappear to the back of his mind, he retracted his fangs and slowly licked the blood from the wound at Ronon's neck. Amazingly, the wound began to heal under the careful administration of the vampire and Rodney continued to pass his tongue over the bite mark until it had completely vanished.

Rodney pulled away from Ronon, slightly dazed. His brought his hand to his stomach and touched the soft flesh there. His wound had healed itself. He slowly began to go through the passed events in his head. His eyes widened when he realized what he had just done. He looked up and looked deep within Ronon's still glazed eyes.

"Ronon?" Rodney said.

The Satedan groaned and then grabbed Rodney's face before descending his lips apon him. Ronon didn't care that he could taste his own blood within Rodney's mouth. All he wanted to do was experience that tingling feeling once more, the feeling of pleasure that had coursed through his body. Slowly, Ronon had begun to realize that he held deep feelings for the vampire. The biting had been the last step for Ronon to finally realized what he felt for the other man.

Ronon pushed away, licking his lips. Rodney looked up at him with a lost expression.

The Satedan smirked and then tugged a stray strand of black hair behind Rodney's ear.

"Ronon! Are you alright?" Sheppard shouted over the radio. Ronon and Rodney jumped apart, the moment broken.

"We'll talk about this later," Ronon answered before he tapped the button of the radio so he could answer back. "Sheppard, I'm fine. I've got Rodney with me too. We'll be heading towards the jumper now. We'll meet you there. Over and out."

"I expect to be filled in about the details later," Sheppard answered back before the line went dead.

Ronon turned to Rodney and helped him get back to his feet.

"Shall we get going?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rodney murmured as he began to make his way back to the jumper with the help of the Satedan.

Sheppard and Teyla were already within the ship when they arrived. Rodney headed towards his usual seat and then sat down in exhaustion.

"What was that about?" Sheppard said, still not sure if he was speaking to his friend.

"We'll talk on the way. First you need to activate the C4 around the Hyper Drive engine. Then we'll immediately drop out of Hyperspace and the jumper will be able to take off," he mumbled. "Once we're far enough, set the rest of the charges and then the whole ship will blow up."

Sheppard nodded and took out the controller that would active the explosive. He pressed the button once and the ship shook as the explosion destroyed the Hyper Drive. The ship immediately dropped out of Hyperspace and came to a complete stop. Sheppard didn't wait an instant. He drove the jumper out of the hangar and into space. Once he deemed he was far enough, he pressed the button a second time and explosions began to take place all over the ship. It wasn't long before the warship imploded like fireworks.

Once his task was accomplished, Rodney slumped into his chair and then stared unseeingly out of the window.

"Now that the threat of imminent death had passed can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Sheppard explained. He turned to Rodney. "Why is your wound healed? And before that why the hell are you even alive?"

"I'll explain," Ronon offered, wanting to give Rodney a break. Rodney gave him a thankful stare and quietly drifted into a well-deserved rest.

"What do you want to know?" Ronon asked.

"From the beginning would be nice," Sheppard murmured.

The rest of the trip was passed with Ronon explaining everything that he had come to know since he had gotten closer to Rodney. The other two listened very carefully, hanging onto every detail. Sometimes Rodney would wake up during the story, but soon he would drift off again. Ronon held back the scenes that had happened between Rodney and himself on the ship because he felt it was a bit too personal for him to divulge.

* * *

"This is the Dedalus contacting Puddle Jumper 1. Answer if you can hear me Puddle Jumper 1," the radio said as it came to life. Sheppard smile and immediately pressed the communication button.

"This is Puddle Jumper 1. Mission accomplished. We're all alive and well. We'll meet you at the pick area," Sheppard answered. The radio turned off once more and the colonel turned towards Rodney who had awakened because of the sound. "You'd better change back before we meet the Dedalus. We wouldn't want anyone to find out about your secret."

Rodney slowly nodded and replaced the illusion around him.

"You don't think off me differently?" he asked.

"Should I? This doesn't change anything Rodney. To me, you'll still be that loud and annoying scientist that has a huge ego," Sheppard stated. There was a smile on his face.

"I agree with Sheppard, Rodney," Teyla added, "It changes nothing. You are still our friend and we will not think off you differently."

Rodney relaxed his posture in his chair and smiled. He has great friends. With that thought in mind he returned to his peaceful slumber.

* * *

Rodney felt himself being shaken awake by someone close to him. He groaned unhappily and then buried his face within his soft pillow. Pillow? Wait that made no sense. Rodney forced himself to pull back and pries open his eyes. He noticed Ronon standing at the edge of what looked like his bed in Atlantis, a smirk on his face.

"How did I get back here?" Rodney mumbled sleepily.

"You were so tiredly that I didn't have the heart to wake you up. I carried you out of the Puddle Jumper once we reached the Dedalus and then placed you in bed. When you still didn't wake up when we reached Atlantis, I picked up back up and carrying you as we beamed down. After that you can kind of figure out what happened," Ronon explained as he smiled when he remembered himself carrying the vampire around the earth warship.

Rodney blushed and sat up in his bed.

"Let's get back on topic. What are you doing here?" he asked the Satedan.

"We're about to start the mission briefing. Unfortunately Elizabeth wanted you there so you have to come," Ronon answered. Rodney groaned and slowly got himself out of bed. The vampire began to follow the Satedan as he was led to the conference room. When he got there, his eyes fell apon his other teammates who were already at their designated seats. Once the two sat down, the meeting began.

"I'm glad to see that you're finally up sleeping beauty," Sheppard teased. Rodney stared at the sheets on his desk, ignoring the colonel.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and turned to the colonel.

"Now, can someone explain exactly what happened on that replicator ship?" Weir asked. The captain of the Dedalus had informed her that the team had missed the assigned pick up time, but somehow they had ended up all right.

"Well, we were caught up in another snag," he answered. Sheppard shifted his gaze to Rodney and their eyes met for a moment. Rodney immediately looked down and stared at the palm of his hands.

"And…" Elizabeth probed.

"We went in got captured, did our things and then broke out," Sheppard said. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in suspicious.

"You're telling me that you escaped a Replicator prison without a scratch on you?" she inquired as she turned her eyes to Rodney, trying to see if he would pitch in.

"Colonel Sheppard is indeed correct. We only managed to escape the prison because of the guards was careless when he opened the gate to question us. Ronon and Sheppard attacked them and then we just ran as fast as we could back to the Puddle Jumper," Teyla pitched in, trying to get Weir to shift her gaze to her and leave Rodney alone. Her plan did work as Weir turned to the female.

"It sounds too easy to me," she said.

"Well that's what happened. It's the absolute truth. We can't change what happened so you'll just have to accept it," Rodney added. He had been overwhelmed with happiness when his friends had covered up for him. There wasn't even a hint of doubt in their voices.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and then sighed.

"Fine," she said as she stood, "Since there isn't anything to talk about, I'll end this meeting. Please return to your duties." With that said, the woman walked out of the room with her head held up high.

Once the team was sure that Weir had gone far enough, they turned to each other and then smiled. Sheppard stood and made his way to Rodney's seat. Teyla stood and went to stand beside Ronon, who had also gotten up from his seat.

"Thank you," Rodney murmured, his voice accurately portraying the gratitude he felt within.

"Don't even think about it. I don't betray my friends and you're definitely my friend…well at least you were the last time I checked," Sheppard stated as he ruffled the vampire's brown locks. Rodney batted his hand away and turned his head in annoyance, his hands crossed over his chest.

"There is nothing to thank, Rodney," Teyla added. She smiled and bowed before heading out of the room.

Sheppard watched her leave and then returned his attention to the scientist.

"So I was thinking…you really look like a girl in that other form of yours," he commented. Rodney flushed red and then took a swipe at John's head. The colonel, however, backed away in time and immediately fled the room before Rodney could decapitate him.

When the colonel was gone, Rodney turned to Ronon his face filled with the rage he felt.

"How dare he?" Rodney growled, "A girl! I do not look like a girl… do I?"

Ronon smiled.

"I think it's the long hair and the feminine features," Ronon said. Rodney's eyes narrowed and he processed to glare at the Satedan. Rodney then huffed and swerved around to attempt to ignore the other man. Ronon smirked and approached the vampire. He ruffled the vampire's hair in an affectionate manner and then walked out of the room.

As he left, a longing look appeared on Rodney's face. He raised his hand and touched his red lips with the tip of his finger. His thoughts were suddenly on the kiss he had had with the Satedan. Would this change their relationship?

* * *

Please review. 


	4. The End

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis

* * *

Part 4

Rodney walked quietly through the halls of Atlantis, a thoughtful look on his face. He had recently been working on a device that he had found lying around in the unexplored areas of Atlantis. He still didn't know what it did, but he would find out eventually. As he walked, there was something bothering the vampire. He knew that he was forgetting something important, but could quite place what it was. Rodney shrugged, thinking that he would remember eventually.

"Rodney," someone called put from behind the scientist. He turned around and came face to face with Radek Zelenka, another one of the chief scientists in Atlantis.

"What's wrong Radek?" he questioned as he watched the approaching scientist.

"There seems to be a problem in the third corridor," Radek answered, "Someone probably touched something they weren't supposed to."

Rodney sighed and redirected himself towards the third corridor. Zelenka followed him quickly. There went Rodney's idea of looking into the Ancient device he had found.

Once they arrived at the third corridor, the scientist was surprised to find it bare of all presence. Usually this corridor was busting with life, but there was no one around. Rodney frowned and turned to his fellow scientist.

"Why was this area evacuated? The problem couldn't have been this serious could it?" he asked as he began to inspect the walls and consoles around the empty hallway.

"The problem isn't exactly with the hallway itself. The problem is in the room," Zelenka said as he pointed to a closed door. Rodney stopped what he was doing and then headed towards the door. He passed his hand over the sensor and waited until the door began to open. The room was dark and quiet, but Rodney knew better. He knew what was hiding within the shadows. Suddenly the lights opened and a large number of people stood up. Streamers were shot within the air and pieces of confetti went flying.

"Happy Birthday!" they shouted.

At least now Rodney knew what he had forgotten.

"Well, isn't this just quaint," Rodney muttered as his eyes fell apon Ronon, Sheppard and Teyla. "Now that the surprise is over, everyone get back to work."

"Don't spoil all our fun," Sheppard said as he raised a can of beer. He took a chug of the alcohol and then began to laugh. Teyla, having her own alcoholic drink, took a small sip and then smiled. Drinks were passed throughout the room and everyone was given a piece of cake.

Rodney stayed back from the festivities even though the party had been thrown for him. Ronon noticed this and skulked away from the rest of the team. He made his way to the dark corner where Rodney had placed himself. He leaned against the wall and took a swing of his own drink.

"Why are you hiding here?" he asked.

"I feel old all of a sudden," he whispered tiredly. "Today I turn 968. I'm almost 10 centuries old."

"And you'll still live a very long time… I forgot to tell you, but I told Carson about what happened on the ship. When he found out that you had bitten me he went crazy. He checked me hours to try and see if I was alright…" Ronon explained, a scowl on his face as he remembered the long hours of pure medical torture he had been forced to endure.

"Did he find anything wrong?" Rodney murmured, a far away look in his eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was leaning against the wall.

"Actually, he was surprised at what he didn't find," Ronon said.

Rodney looked up in confusion. He didn't understand what the Satedan meant by his comment.

"What?"

"Apparently I had no sign of blood loss, which really surprised our dear doctor. He was expecting me to be missing a lot of blood. After inspecting me some more he discovered that I have a high regeneration capability when it comes to blood. Apparently I'll never die because of blood loss…unless I loose an arm or something," Ronon explained. A small smile appeared on Rodney's face.

"What you're telling me is that I can bite you all I want and you won't die," he announced.

"Basically."

"What's with all the talking over there? It's time to party!" a very drunk Sheppard shouted at them as he finally spotted the two men talking in the corner. Rodney shook his head at the man. Ronon went silent and watched as the scientist entered the crowd and attempted to pry the bottle of alcohol out of Sheppard's hand while telling him that he had drunk too much.

Once the scientist had accomplished his task, Rodney returned to the corner and smiled at Ronon. The Satedan's eyes had darkened and he was staring strangely at the vampire. He approached Rodney carefully and leaned forward to whisper something into the vampire's ear.

"We have to talk later."

Rodney blushed as the Satedan's hot breath touched his neck. He closed his eyes to breath in the musky scent of the warrior and smiled softly. When he opened his eyes once more, Ronon was gone, somewhere within the throngs of people.

Rodney kept his eyes downcast towards the ground.

He felt butterflies flutter within the pit of his stomach at the thought of the conversation.

* * *

Later that night, Rodney sat quietly in his bedroom. His eyes were gazing unseeingly out of the window in his room. The waves were beginning to gain some unrest, which told Rodney that soon there would be a storm.

There was a knock on the door and Rodney immediately called for the person to enter. The door slid open and a smiling Ronon stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Rodney stood up from his bed and then awkwardly smiled at the Satedan.

"Sit down," Ronon said as he came closer to the vampire. Rodney immediately sat down at the corner of his bed. Ronon came to sit down next to him. He wrapped an arm around Rodney's shoulder. The vampire tensed, but Ronon refused to let him go.

"We need to talk about what happened on that replicator ship," he commented softly. Rodney blushed as he remembered the kiss they had shared after he had finished feeding. His hand went to his lap and he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

"I know."

"What happened then was really a thing out of the blue, but I'd be lying I said I didn't enjoy it," Ronon admitted, a light tinge on his cheeks.

"Me too," Rodney whispered.

"The truth is that I found it extremely pleasurable…when you were biting me," Ronon added as his eyes glazed over at the memory. Rodney looked up in surprise. He had never heard of someone gaining pleasure from a feeding. Pain and terror, yes, but never pleasure.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"That's interesting. I wonder why? Adrian once explained to me though that some vampires have mates. She once said that those who have mate don't go by the common laws of vampires. Though, I've never seen such cases," Rodney said. Ronon listened carefully. A thought crossed his mind as he listened to the scientist carefully.

"Are we mate?" he questioned.

Rodney stopped talking. He thought about the statement. Could the hunger he always felt when around Ronon be because of his vampire side attracting itself to Ronon? Is that the reason why Ronon was the only who could reach him when he had succumbed to his blood rage? Vampires were usually lost to reason when their instinct took over and yet he could remember Ronon calling out to him and slowly bringing his bad to reality. He remembered the contented his inner beast felt when he had tasted the blood of the Satedan, how it almost purred with satisfaction at its heavenly taste. Could they really be mates?

"Maybe," the vampire finally answered.

Rodney could almost hear his inner demon purring with contentment at being close to Ronon.

"I want you to bite me again," Ronon announced.

Rodney choked on the air he was breath and began to cough. Ronon rubbed his back soothingly and after a few moments the coughing ceased.

"What?"

"I want you to bite me again. I'll be fine. I have a hunch and I think this will answer it. It'll answer a lot of your own questions too," Ronon whispered. Rodney's eyes were wide and he thought about what Ronon had said. Since he wasn't overcome with hunger, if he bit Ronon now then he would be able to tell if he was his mate.

"Okay," he finally whispered. Ronon grinned and then turned slight. He wrapped his arms around Rodney and then tucked the vampire's head on his shoulder. Rodney's eyes glazed over and then he allowed his illusion to fade away. Ronon buried his hands in Rodney's dark coloured hair.

Rodney slowly opened his mouth and allowed his fangs to lengthen. He slowly sunk his fangs within the man's willing flesh. Ronon let out a groan of ecstasy as Rodney's sharp canines pierced his neck. Rodney closed his eyes and savoured the taste of the blood. The coppery liquid filled his mouth and all he could do was revel at its flavour. Blood could never lie. This man was truly his mate. The beast within growled with happily, finally satisfied.

Ronon, on the other hand, was experiencing a different kind of pleasure. From the moment Rodney had begun to gorge himself apon his blood, all he could fell was pleasure. Deep and unrestrained pleasure.

His eyes glazed over and he could feel a tightening in his lower belly. He could feel a hunger for something forming within his veins. It was a deep hunger that could only be satisfied by one person. That person was also the one that was currently standing in front of him drinking his blood. Ronon almost whined when Rodney released his neck. He felt the vampire lick the wound until it had disappeared. They backed away from each other. Ronon's eyes where darkened with lust and Rodney's eyes were glazed over. Blood stained the corner of Rodney's lips and Ronon leaned forward to lick the liquid off.

Rodney blushed in embarrassment and then wrapped his arms around Ronon's neck, pulling him in for a kiss. Their lips met tenderly, but soon the kiss turned into something more. Something much more passionate.

Ronon took his chance and pushed the vampire onto the bed. Rodney let out a deep breath as his back hit the soft mattress below him. His long hair splattered around him, creating a sea of black all around him.

"Were you able to find anything out from my bite?" Rodney asked curiously, his voice breathless.

"I did. I found that my heart longs for you in ways that it never could for anyone else," Ronon admitted. Rodney smiled. To him, it was the sweetest love confession that he could have ever heard from Ronon. He knew what the Satedan had meant beneath his words because he understood that Ronon wasn't the type to openly show his affection. "What about you?"

"Blood doesn't lie. You are truly my mate, Ronon. From this moment on you're stuck with me," Rodney murmured as he lifted his head and placed a chaste kiss apon Ronon's lips. The Satedan growled when the vampire pulled away.

"Do you think that would satisfy me? Beware because tonight I will make you mine," Ronon muttered as he slowly descended apon the scientist. Rodney blushed and gave himself completely to the other man.

* * *

The next morning, Rodney awoke when his alarm clock went off. However, the moment he was about to open his eyes and shut off the machine, there was a loud bang and the buzzing stopped. Confusion fluttered within Rodney's mind and he slowly opened his eyes, ignoring the blinding sunlight emerging from his window.

The first thing he saw when his morning blindness had passed was the sleeping figure of the Satedan sleeping beside him. He secretly smiled when he realized what had happened. Ronon had awoken because of the alarm and had processed to pulverize it before returning to his blissful state of rest.

Rodney slowly sat up and quietly made his way out of the bed, trying not to wake his lover beside him. Unfortunately, the moment he slipped away from underneath the sheets Ronon's gruff voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked sleepily.

Rodney turned to him, unaffected by his nakedness in front of the other man.

"I have to get to work," he replied. Ronon nodded and then waved him off before burying his head once more within Rodney's soft pillow.

Rodney, on the other hand, began to get ready for the new day. He put on a loose shirt and a pair of sweatpants and replaced his illusion. After that was done he headed for the showers. Once that was over with, he headed towards the mess hall so he could find something to eat. This is where he found Sheppard leaning on one of the tables, grasping his head in pain. Rodney sat next to him, a smirk on his face.

"You shouldn't have drank so much," he commented. Sheppard just groaned.

"Shut up," he complained. "How come you don't have a hangover?"

"Well, one, I didn't drink that much and two, vampires don't get drunk. I could drink as I wanted and nothing would happen." Rodney explained. He smiled as he remembered a memory from a long time ago, "I remember once, I tried having a drinking contest with one of my friends, but he almost died because of alcohol poisoning. I was fine, but he had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency care."

"Fun," Sheppard muttered sarcastically.

"So what are you planning on doing today?" Rodney questioned. He picked up a glass of water on the table and began to drink.

"Nothing hopefully, but knowing my luck Elizabeth will probably dump a bunch of paperwork on my desk," Sheppard complained as he thought about all the work that might be waiting for him.

"Well, that's an idea," someone whispered angrily.

Sheppard lifted his head from the table and came face to face with a very amused Elizabeth. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she had an eyebrow raised at the colonel.

"Elizabeth," John muttered in surprise. He sat up in his seat and place him arms at his side, trying to ignore the pounding from his head.

"Since you seem so enthusiastic towards you're paperwork, I want you to give me the six reports that you still own me by the end of the day. Now, I wanted to ask you if you knew where McKay was, but it seems that that won't be necessary anymore," she added as she turned to Rodney. Rodney looked up at her and then stood up from his own seat.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Carson was looking for you. He said it was important…" she said.

Rodney nodded and then quickly made his way to the infirmary where he knew the doctor would be. When he got there, there were three other people there, but the instant he arrived, Carson shoed them out and closed the door behind them.

"Ronon told me everything that happened," he admitted.

"Yeah, he told me yesterday that he told you. He said you found something very interesting with him blood," McKay answered back. He was quite interested in what Carson had to say about that subject because he knew that Ronon had only understood the fundamentals of what Carson had explained to him.

"Ah, yes. About that, I was quite surprised when I found out myself. His red and white blood cells are able to immediately calculate the amount of missing blood and increase it to the appropriate levels. It's almost as if he was the perfect vampire meal… Never ending supply of blood that wouldn't actually kill the human being feed apon," Carson explained. Rodney nodded with interest,

"That would explain why he ended up being my mate," he said as if it was an offhanded comment. Carson nodded in agreement.

"That would probably explain why he began your mate… WHAT!" he shouted as he realized what Rodney had just said. "But you…he… and you're a…aye… I really got to start getting in the loop."

Rodney just laughed and then patted the doctor's back in a friendly manner.

"Don't worry about it too much Carson. You just work too much so it's a bit obvious that you wouldn't be informed of everything," Rodney answered quietly. Carson turned his gaze to the floor.

"I feel like I'm missing you're life. Being with you is very important to me, lad. You took care of me when I was a child, so you're like a brother to me," Carson explained. Rodney smiled and embraced him friend.

"You're not missing anything, my old friend. You're forgetting that I'm going to live for a long time, so you have all the time in the world to catch up. Besides, the interesting part in my life starts now," he said. Carson smiled and then hugged his friend back.

"Right, all the time in the world. So…you and Ronon, eh…" he said with a smirk. Rodney blushed.

"Yeah."

"Good luck lad, you'll never be bored with him around that's for sure," he responded. Rodney nodded and turned his back to the doctor. He made his way out of the room. Carson watched him with a smile on his face. He could still remember the moment he had meet the vampire all those years ago and how Rodney had taught him many of the wonders around the world. Their friendship would last forever. Even if he died somehow, he knew that their bond would live on.

In Carson's mind, he was still the little boy that Rodney had saved all those years ago. He wouldn't give up the time he spent with Rodney for anything else in the world.

* * *

Rodney headed back towards his room. The moment he opened the door his eyes feel apon the figure of Ronon, who was getting dressed. The Satedan turned to him and finished putting on his shirt.

"What happened while I was out?" he asked.

"Just the usual. Elizabeth gave Sheppard all the work he could ever need and then I went to go see Carson," Rodney said as he recounted the earlier events.

"Mm, sounds boring," Ronon announced, "So what do you want to do?"

"I'm going back to work," Rodney said. He grabbed his laptop from his desk and then headed out again. Ronon shrugged and then left as well. Maybe he could persuade Sheppard to spar with him if he could find the colonel.

* * *

"Colonel Sheppard! Doctor McKay! Please report to the control room."

The intercom immediately went silent after giving its message. Rodney growled angrily and lowered the screen of his laptop. He stood and headed towards the control room.

"Can't I ever just have one day off to work in peace? God, it's almost as if people were doing it on purpose to make sure that he could never do any work," he grumbled annoyance. When he made it to the control room, his eyes immediately fell apon Ronon, who was quietly standing beside Sheppard. He calmed down almost instantly when he saw his mate.

"What has happened now?" he asked.

"I'm sending you on a mission," Elizabeth announced.

"Why? This is my day off," Rodney answered back as his face fell. Somehow he got the feeling that Sheppard was somehow involved with the revocation of his vacation.

"Sheppard practically begged me to allow him to go on a mission today. He also asked that you be there," Elizabeth answered as she turned to John. Rodney turned to his gaze to the colonel and glared at him venomously.

"Sheppard…"

"Now, now, Rodney…" John responded.

Rodney huffed and stomped away, heading back to his lab.

"Be back in an hour!" Sheppard shouted.

* * *

An hour later, Rodney found himself standing in front of the stargate. Sheppard was at his side with his gun in hand. He turned to Rodney.

"Ready?" he asked.

Rodney rolled his eyes.

"Aren't I always?"

"Did Doctor Weir mention what type of planet it was?" Teyla questioned as she turned to the vampire.

"She said it was a large rainforest with lots of bugs," Rodney answered as an amused smiled made its way onto his lips. Sheppard made a face at the comment.

"I hate bugs," he muttered, remembering the time the Wraith beetle had attached itself to his neck, almost killing him in the process.

"Great! Should we get going?" Rodney said happily. Revenge was always sweet. He turned to Ronon who was standing a few paces away from the rest of the team. The Satedan was smiled brightly with amusement.

"Right," Sheppard mumbled.

Just as he spoke, the gate was dialled and it expended before turning into a pool of shimmering water.

"We'll wait for you on the other side," Sheppard said as he looked at Rodney and Ronon. With that said, the colonel looked at Teyla. Together they stepped through the gate, disappearing within its vortex.

Ronon walked towards Rodney and ruffled his hair in an affectionate manner.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"Yes," Rodney said. They both approached the blue vortex and then took one last chance to look at each other. They smiled at the other and then took the last step into the vortex.

From that moment on, everything would return to normal, well as normal as they could be in Atlantis, and no one would ever discover the underlying secret of Rodney McKay.

The end.

* * *

That's the last of it folks. I hope you liked it.

Please review


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